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“Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast!Â”Â—Ron Burgundy talking about the latest developments in the Broadcom/Qualcomm deal.Â

And heÂ’s not wrong. This epic Semiconductor Saga gave usÂ anotherÂ head fake, as the U.S. government ordered Qualcomm (-1.13%) toÂ delayÂ its shareholders meetingÂ—originally set for todayÂ—for at least 30 days.Â

Remember:Â Broadcom (-1.55%) nominated six directors to QualcommÂ’s board. And if these directors were elected, the chances of BroadcomÂ’s $117 billion hostile takeover bid would haveÂ increased.Â

While thereÂ’s enough meat here to fill 10 newsletters, letÂ’s boil it down by focusing on this one (very important) question:

Why is the U.S. government getting involved?

Answer:Â Concerns over national security.

To understandÂ whyÂ thatÂ’s a concern, meet an obscure but powerful government panel known asÂ CFIUSÂ (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States).Â

This committeeÂ makes sure all M&A activity coming from overseas to the U.S. is kosher. Basically, it prevents foreign companies from using a domestic subsidiary as a Trojan horse to steal tech and IP. And in this case, CFIUS is investigating whether Broadcom is trying to use Qualcomm asÂ itsÂ Trojan horse.

WhatÂ’s raising a red flag:Â Broadcom, a Singapore-based company, is notorious for its takeover & cost-cutting combo.Â Regulators worryÂ that it will wind down QualcommÂ’s leading 5G program, paving the way for Chinese companies (like Huawei) to flood the U.S. market.

What doesnÂ’t add up:Â 1) Broadcom said itÂ’ll be moving its HQ from Singapore to the U.SÂ…so moving forward, should Broadcom even be considered a foreign company? And 2) thereÂ’s little to no precedent for CFIUS to investigate a deal before one was agreed upon.

HereÂ’s what we do know:Â This is as exciting as the semiconductor world gets, so enjoy it.

The backstory: Broadcom (-1.26%), the chipmaker of thwarted Qualcomm-takeover fame, is trying to complete its $19 billion acquisition of CA Technologies (+1.49%), an enterprise software company.
The mystery: On Wednesday, a memo supposedly written by a Defense Department official was circulated suggesting the need for a national security review of the deal. The only problem? A DoD spokeswoman said it was "likely" a fraud.
Why it matters, per Axios's Dan Primack: "Assuming the memo was indeed fraudulent, then we might have just entered a new phase of short-seller espionage." Still, Sen. Rand Paul called for a national security review (while denying the memo played a factor).